Rebellions in School Corridors Are Not Advised
by Lillielle
Summary: Disclaimer: I own nothing. For the Duct Tape competition. Prompt: Angry Birds. Ginny's bitten off more than she can chew. Warning for torture.


_A/N: For the Duct Tape competition._

_Prompt: Angry Birds._

_Song lyrics from Marilyn Manson: "Disposable Teens."_

_Warning for torture. AU._

_You say you want a revolution, man  
And I say that you're full of shit...  
The more that you fear us, the bigger we get  
And don't be surprised if we destroy all of it_

Ginny bares her teeth in blatant defiance at the Carrows, her wand clenched tightly in one hand, and her face so white beneath its thick spattering of freckles, she looks like she's seen a ghost.

"It doesn't matter what you do," she hisses. "Harry will stop you all. You and your precious Dark Lord."

"Oh, Miss Weasley," Alecto clicks her tongue, shaking her head in mock sadness. "You need a good long rest, don't you? So overworked, so delicate. I suppose it comes naturally with blood traitors. Well, Amycus?" She turns to her brother, twirling her wand around her fingers and smiling wickedly.

"Indeed," Amycus purrs, amusement glinting in watery brown eyes.

Ginny swallows hard, trying her best to keep her wand hand from shaking. She wanted to be so brave, to start the rebellion with this, one simple act in a dusty corridor, only feet away from the Charms classroom, and nothing is turning out like she planned.

"Crucio!" Alecto shouts, her wand shooting a brilliant red jet of light at Ginny, who's flattened against the opposite wall with the force of the Death Eater's hatred. Pain savages her nerves and she screams, so desperate and raw, she can feel her throat shred beneath the force. She's always vowed not to give them the satisfaction, but she can't help it, it is like that scarlet light is flaying her alive, every inch of bone and sinew and flesh coming apart in a bloody tangle, and it's _not stopping_, and she screams again, and again, and again, until-

"Enough!" Snape's dark voice interjects, sharper than she's ever heard it, and it finally stops, leaving Ginny to thud to the ground, scraping her knees and nearly biting her tongue in half. She raises tear-blurred eyes, still defiant, though her body won't stop shaking and she can taste blood in her mouth.

"You and I both know that you are not supposed to use the Cruciatus on students," Snape hisses. "I don't want to hear your excuses. There is a line, and you have assuredly crossed it. Now-up, Miss Weasley, I know you can."

It takes gripping the wall like mad, and quite a bit of muttered cursing, but finally, Ginny is up on her feet, re-clutching her wand and looking up at him bravely.

"Hospital Wing," he says curtly, and as soon as the two of them are around the corner from the Carrow siblings, he offers her his arm. She looks at him like he's a viper, and he sighs.

"Take it, Miss Weasley," he insists in a harsh tone. "I have no desire to watch you faint in the next hallway."

Hesitantly, she places her hand on his arm and immediately sways, the effects of the Cruciatus sending another painful spasm through her nerves. Snape sighs impatiently and scoops her up in his arms. It is impersonal and more than a bit rough, but the effect on Ginny is galvanic. She stares at him with wide eyes, blood slowly trickling down her chin from a split lip.

"Never mind, Miss Weasley," he tells her as he hurries to the Hospital Wing, taking quite a few shortcuts that she didn't even know existed.

"Madam Pomfrey!" he shouts out when they reach the Hospital Wing, and he deposits her unceremoniously onto the nearest bed. The mediwitch bustles out of her office, her jaw dropping in shock when she sees Ginny.

"What did you do," the nurse begins furiously, before she realises who she's talking to, and Ginny has to speak up, though the effort hurts.

"Not him, Madam Pomfrey," she wheezes out. "Carrows."

"Ah," Madam Pomfrey says, gentling. "Headmaster Snape, ahm...thank you for getting her to me."

"My pleasure," Snape says stiffly and hurries back out, although Ginny could swear she saw a speck of concern in those beetle-black eyes.

And when she wakes up in the middle of the night, racked by painful twinges and the taste of blood in the back of her throat, she could swear that she sees him, standing in the corner. Watching over her.


End file.
